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Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, the House majority whip, will speak at an event presented by the Pacific Research Institute, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that advances free-market policy solutions, at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach at noon Aug. 6. McCarthy is California's highest-ranking member of Congress. Tickets to the events are $50. For more information, go to
pacific research.org.

Immigration

overhaul pushed

More than 400 organizations have collaborated on a letter that encourages House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, to pass immigration legislation. Signers of the letter, which was sent to the House leaders Tuesday, include the California Chamber of Commerce, California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association, California Farm Bureau Federation, California Strawberry Commission and CALinnovates, advocate on technology issues. It reads, “Failure to act is not an option. We can't afford to be content and watch a generation-old immigration system work more and more against our overall national interest.”

Zimbabwe vote concerns Royce

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, chair of the House Foreign Relations committee, said Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, and his ruling party, are orchestrating an illegitimate election. Mugabe is up for re-election today. Royce said the “election will be characterized by registration and voter-roll manipulation – the modus operandi of Mugabe.” Royce, who chaired the foreign affairs subcommittee on Africa from 1997 to 2004, added, “Sadly, it looks like Mugabe, one of the longest-serving dictators, will maintain his power at the expense of the democratic rights of the people of Zimbabwe.”

Tell Congress: ‘I'm stuck'

Are you tired of waiting in traffic? There's a public policy app for that. The next time you're stuck at the 57-60 freeway bottleneck, on the 91 freeway or on the tarmac at John Wayne Airport, send Congress a note with the “I'm Stuck” app. The app was launched Tuesday by Building America's Future, a bipartisan group of government officials seeking investment in infrastructure. Their goal is to give Congress a real-time sense of what traffic delays are like in the U.S. It uses geo-location to automatically send a note to the representative for the area where you're stuck, and to the state's two senators. Building America's Future hopes that a flood of messages will force Congress to fund infrastructure projects.

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